Semisonic - Secret Smile (Jayou Dubstep Remix)
Dare I say strings again? This time acoustic guitar. The drop after the vox is a tad harsh on the ear, the bouncy, unchanging bassline seems more reminiscent of electrohouse than dubstep and the repetition of the vox sample blends the lines of genre even moreso by giving the track a slight hip-pop anthem feeling. Something catches my ear though as DJ and makes me thing that while this track couldve used a bit more work on the mixdown, it'll be a dancefloor hit none-the-less.
Download
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Dr. Nimble - Make Contact
Strings. Strings. Strings. If you know me personally or are an avid reader of this blog (ha!), you know I'm a sucker for strings. And really, that's what's sucking me into this track. The strings are by no means that of a virtuoso, but they're present and in dubstep's childlike development stage, that's all that counts right now. Put these strings in a breakcore track and I'd throw it out the window (metaphorically, but hell I might burn it onto a CD just to do physically), but with the simplistic nature of most dubstep tracks, they work in this one. The bass packs a solid punch and there's a handful of variations that keep the track interesting. There aren't many layers, but when I heard this I immediately thought "double-drop mashup" so that could play into a DJ's hands for the best. Some people use strings similar to this as a cinematic opening to draw you in (and allow for a mixpoint before the drop) and then throw away, never layering them back in, but Dr. Nimble doesn't tease--he delivers. He throws them back in and that's exactly what I wanted to hear.
Download
Strings. Strings. Strings. If you know me personally or are an avid reader of this blog (ha!), you know I'm a sucker for strings. And really, that's what's sucking me into this track. The strings are by no means that of a virtuoso, but they're present and in dubstep's childlike development stage, that's all that counts right now. Put these strings in a breakcore track and I'd throw it out the window (metaphorically, but hell I might burn it onto a CD just to do physically), but with the simplistic nature of most dubstep tracks, they work in this one. The bass packs a solid punch and there's a handful of variations that keep the track interesting. There aren't many layers, but when I heard this I immediately thought "double-drop mashup" so that could play into a DJ's hands for the best. Some people use strings similar to this as a cinematic opening to draw you in (and allow for a mixpoint before the drop) and then throw away, never layering them back in, but Dr. Nimble doesn't tease--he delivers. He throws them back in and that's exactly what I wanted to hear.
Download
Widdle Me This
I recently got to see The Widdler in Chicago at Smartbar and while I wasn't totally blown away, his set was impressive. Not only was his mixing flawless, but I had never heard any of the tracks he dropped before, which is always a plus in my book. And best of all, while he's still in the process of making a name for himself, he's giving out hot dubs in what seems like every other week. Here's his most recent collab remix with VoodooSteamBoat:
Let me be the first to say, I'm not a fan of psytrance. I got burnt out on it circa 2003 when I listened to it 24/7. There are a few tracks here and there that I dig though, and Infected Mushroom's "Becoming Insane" is one of those. Not for this to become a review of Infected's track, but it sidesteps most of the repetitive sound elements and patterns that typical Psy tracks fall into. The usage of strings is deliciously psychadelic (...bearing reference to the psychadelic nature of the genre, something most "Psy" tracks seem to miss entirely) and while I'm usually repelled by vocals, they're done well in the original.
Widdler and VoodooSteamBoat practically take all of the elements I dislike about Infected's original and cuts them out while using the elements I like at the same time. They keep the "becoming insane" vocal, which without it you're really missing the theme of the original. What's great about the use of this vocal is not only is the original good, but not too many dubstep tracks utilize vocals. A sample here and there, perhaps, but this is becoming more and more common lately (think Nero) and I'm liking it. They're well placed and not overused. The duo also kept the strings but I wish he layered them throughout more of the track rather than dropping them after the intro. The wobbly bass is there for the dancefloor and while theyre a bit repetitive, at least they're not generic in nature.
Download
Let me be the first to say, I'm not a fan of psytrance. I got burnt out on it circa 2003 when I listened to it 24/7. There are a few tracks here and there that I dig though, and Infected Mushroom's "Becoming Insane" is one of those. Not for this to become a review of Infected's track, but it sidesteps most of the repetitive sound elements and patterns that typical Psy tracks fall into. The usage of strings is deliciously psychadelic (...bearing reference to the psychadelic nature of the genre, something most "Psy" tracks seem to miss entirely) and while I'm usually repelled by vocals, they're done well in the original.
Widdler and VoodooSteamBoat practically take all of the elements I dislike about Infected's original and cuts them out while using the elements I like at the same time. They keep the "becoming insane" vocal, which without it you're really missing the theme of the original. What's great about the use of this vocal is not only is the original good, but not too many dubstep tracks utilize vocals. A sample here and there, perhaps, but this is becoming more and more common lately (think Nero) and I'm liking it. They're well placed and not overused. The duo also kept the strings but I wish he layered them throughout more of the track rather than dropping them after the intro. The wobbly bass is there for the dancefloor and while theyre a bit repetitive, at least they're not generic in nature.
Download
To the Louvre! er, the Content!
Alright, finally getting some time to upload and talk about some content.
Portishead - Roads (HavocNdeeD Remix)
HavocNdeeD recently dropped a boatload (okay, 8) fresh tracks and let me say--they're all solid. His remix of Portishead's Roads wasn't the best of the lot, but I'd like to give it mention here simply because due it being a remix of a popular track, it's most likely to get played out (and because it's done fairly well, get good response).
This one is by no means a big bass wobbler. It has the elements to make a good, chill dubstep track without all the dub reggae influence that they typically come with. Portishead's triphop style provides all "chill" this track needs. No fake rasta accent necessary, hear? While he didn't massively rearrange the track, I find this to be on the more positive side than anything because the original speaks for itself. Perhaps couldve used a tad bit more on HavocNdeeD's part, but I'd much rather the track be underproduced than over.
Download
Portishead - Roads (HavocNdeeD Remix)
HavocNdeeD recently dropped a boatload (okay, 8) fresh tracks and let me say--they're all solid. His remix of Portishead's Roads wasn't the best of the lot, but I'd like to give it mention here simply because due it being a remix of a popular track, it's most likely to get played out (and because it's done fairly well, get good response).
This one is by no means a big bass wobbler. It has the elements to make a good, chill dubstep track without all the dub reggae influence that they typically come with. Portishead's triphop style provides all "chill" this track needs. No fake rasta accent necessary, hear? While he didn't massively rearrange the track, I find this to be on the more positive side than anything because the original speaks for itself. Perhaps couldve used a tad bit more on HavocNdeeD's part, but I'd much rather the track be underproduced than over.
Download
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Quick shout to a handful of websites that I use to obtain info about new music:
-the users of http://floasis.net WAYLiT thread
- http://glitchhopforum.com
- http://dubstepforum.com
- http://last.fm
- http://idmforums.com
- http://ihatebreakcore.com
- http://idmtrade.blogspot.com
- http://gabber.od.ua
- http://torrentech.org
- http://addictech.com
- http://beatport.com
As well as scouring myspace for new releases (from previously known artists + their friends) and youtube for remixes.
-the users of http://floasis.net WAYLiT thread
- http://glitchhopforum.com
- http://dubstepforum.com
- http://last.fm
- http://idmforums.com
- http://ihatebreakcore.com
- http://idmtrade.blogspot.com
- http://gabber.od.ua
- http://torrentech.org
- http://addictech.com
- http://beatport.com
As well as scouring myspace for new releases (from previously known artists + their friends) and youtube for remixes.
On to my current musical endeavors, which start at about age ~18. This is the time when my musical focus becomes very myopic. For ~5 years I was consuming all the EDM that I could get my ears on, taking it all in and slowly sorting it all out. As of ~18, I begin a stage in musical appreciation which some call narrow-minded. I call it knowing what I like and knowing what I don't like. I tend to compare my musical tastes to my food tastes. I'm in my 20's, I've eaten (been fed) a LOT of different types of food. That's not to say I'm some kind of food connoisseur, but over the years I've developed a mental library as to which foods I like and which I don't like. For instance, I've tasted beans--I don't like their taste or texture. However I've never eaten a bean burrito. Some people say that I should try bean burritos, but I insist against. They note that I've never tried one so I don't know if I'll like it or not. But what I have tried are the ingredients that make up the burrito--and I dont like them. The same can be said for music. There are certain qualities (and quantities) of music that I enjoy and there are many that I do not. When a certain peice of music (or genre) is defined largely by the qualities that I've sampled in other tracks, artists or genres--and didn't enjoy--I believe it's safe to say that I will not enjoy this new music.
It comes down to time, really. On a given day, I find ~2-3 new artists and listen to 5-6 new albums. If the 4 tracks in your myspace page are not impressive, I will not get your album and give it a listen. Your samples to the world should be representative of your music as a whole. There are simply too many genius-level musical artists in existance to waste time with those who are not. If i have 17 hours in a day to listen to music and there are 17 hours worth of genius musicianship available to me every day, then there is no point in listening to anything less than such. I believe this ratio is not only true, but more substantial than I make it out to be (in that, there are not enough hours in every day to physically take in all of the musical genius in the world in 1 lifetime). It is for this reason that some call me "picky" but I believe it to be a matter of simply knowing what I enjoy.
Typically, I may say something like "house music sucks." Mind you, I live around chicago, IL, the birthplace of house music. You can't, with a straight face, tell me I just haven't heard "the right" house track. I've heard good house tracks, tracks that I really enjoy. Tortured Soul, Les Rhythmes Digitales, some Jamiroquai tracks, some remixes, etc but when I say something like "XYZ genre sucks" that is to imply that I don't enjoy 99.9% of it. I believe that in EVERY genre (even happy hardcore), there are rare gems of musical genius or even just tracks that I can get down with for whatever reason.
As of current, I generally listen to: breakcore, IDM, glitch-hop, dubstep, neo-classical, glitch, downtempo, jungle, backpack hip-hop, post-rock, and variations and combinations of each of the aforementioned. The posts from here on out will likely be centered around one of those.
It comes down to time, really. On a given day, I find ~2-3 new artists and listen to 5-6 new albums. If the 4 tracks in your myspace page are not impressive, I will not get your album and give it a listen. Your samples to the world should be representative of your music as a whole. There are simply too many genius-level musical artists in existance to waste time with those who are not. If i have 17 hours in a day to listen to music and there are 17 hours worth of genius musicianship available to me every day, then there is no point in listening to anything less than such. I believe this ratio is not only true, but more substantial than I make it out to be (in that, there are not enough hours in every day to physically take in all of the musical genius in the world in 1 lifetime). It is for this reason that some call me "picky" but I believe it to be a matter of simply knowing what I enjoy.
Typically, I may say something like "house music sucks." Mind you, I live around chicago, IL, the birthplace of house music. You can't, with a straight face, tell me I just haven't heard "the right" house track. I've heard good house tracks, tracks that I really enjoy. Tortured Soul, Les Rhythmes Digitales, some Jamiroquai tracks, some remixes, etc but when I say something like "XYZ genre sucks" that is to imply that I don't enjoy 99.9% of it. I believe that in EVERY genre (even happy hardcore), there are rare gems of musical genius or even just tracks that I can get down with for whatever reason.
As of current, I generally listen to: breakcore, IDM, glitch-hop, dubstep, neo-classical, glitch, downtempo, jungle, backpack hip-hop, post-rock, and variations and combinations of each of the aforementioned. The posts from here on out will likely be centered around one of those.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dance Machine
It was in the teenage years (circa 2000) that because I got so interested in EDM, I wanted to go hear it live (like a concert, ya know?). Turns out "concerts" exist few and far between with EDM, but it's played at "raves" and "clubs" every weekend. So my adventure begins in those two scenes, spanning from outdoor festivals, to teeny bopper clubs, to warehouse parties. It was at these events that I discovered a new passion--dancing. It was subtle at first, a thing of necessity. It was what everyone did to this music and I felt the urge to do it too. I started using those computer skills to look up how people did it. I stumbled into a few communites, some tutorials, some videos and long story short (because i'd rather this blog not be about my dance history), I was really trying my best to be a dancer, rather than a person who simply danced.
Because of this hobby, I found even more music. Things like electro, breaks, jungle, house and genre names for all the music that I had been acquiring. This sent me on a quest of categorization--psytrance, darkstep, nu electro, glitch, disco house, speedcore...endless subgenres of subgenres and all of it came with new artists to listen to. Infected Mushroom, Deiselboy, AK1200, Anthony Rother, Baby Anne, Freestylers, Mojo, mu-Ziq. Dozens and dozens of different styles to choose from and moods to match.
It was at this stage that I was the most...how shall I say, open, to musical variation. From this point forward, I became less and less so, picking specific producers and genres that I would go wild over for months at a time before moving on to the next. (Note: this began to happen when I was about 17/18 and I still do this today).
Because of this hobby, I found even more music. Things like electro, breaks, jungle, house and genre names for all the music that I had been acquiring. This sent me on a quest of categorization--psytrance, darkstep, nu electro, glitch, disco house, speedcore...endless subgenres of subgenres and all of it came with new artists to listen to. Infected Mushroom, Deiselboy, AK1200, Anthony Rother, Baby Anne, Freestylers, Mojo, mu-Ziq. Dozens and dozens of different styles to choose from and moods to match.
It was at this stage that I was the most...how shall I say, open, to musical variation. From this point forward, I became less and less so, picking specific producers and genres that I would go wild over for months at a time before moving on to the next. (Note: this began to happen when I was about 17/18 and I still do this today).
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